The Nika Trilogy Part 1: Nika
by The Sweeping Channel
Summary: On the quest to defeat the Firelord, Zuko gets sick. While searching for the antidote, Aang stumbles upon a girl with a surprising secret that will finally be revealed when the gang encounters Azula...
1. Chapter 1: Find the Antidote

"Wow, Zuko. You look paler than usual." Katara commented as they stepped out into the sunshine. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he replied, attempting to dissemble his pain with a smile.

"He's lying." Toph said matter-of-factly. Katara looked at Zuko and frowned.

"Okay, so maybe my stomach has been acting up a bit, but it's no big deal." He added sheepishly.

"You know more…" Toph said quietly.

"Quit pestering him!" Sokka said. "If he says that he feels fine, then he feels fine."

"Hey, I care too, you know." Toph said, somewhat vexed.

"Stop it you two." Katara said sternly. She turned to Zuko. "Now tell me exactly what's wrong." she said.

"It's an illness." he started. "I had it once before when I was eight or something. By what I'm feeling now, I can tell that I have it. If I remember it correctly, it will only get worse from here."

"Define worse." Aang commented.

"At its peak, I won't be able to move, I'll hallucinate, speech is out of the question and my vision will fail. The good thing is that this illness isn't contagious and it takes away my firebending." He said and smiled. However, that smile faded and he clutched his stomach.

"Wait, how is it a good thing that you can't firebend?" Katara asked.

"Trust me, it's better that I can't firebend while I'm hallucinating. It's too dangerous." he said.

"Is there any way to prevent it?" Toph asked.

"Not prevent, but cure." Zuko answered. "There's a flower that grows around these parts, and its roots are the only way to help. It's yellow on the outside and blue on the inside. The forests around here are filled with them. It shouldn't be too hard."

"So… I guess that means that we go look for that flower?" Aang asked.

"I guess." Katara said. "But someone has to stay here with Zuko." Everybody stepped back, except for Toph. She actually seemed happy about it.

"At least I get to stay on the ground." she smiled. Everyone nodded. It was agreed that Toph would stay to make sure that Zuko stayed out of trouble and Aang, Sokka, and Katara would go to look for the flower.

"It may take a day or two, but I should be fine until then. Just hurry." Zuko said as everyone climbed onto Appa.

"Alright, we'll hurry." Aang assured him, and they flew off.

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Moooooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!" Appa roared.

"I'll have to agree with Appa on this one." Katara said and turned to Aang. "We've been flying all day and there's still no sign of that flower. To add to that, we're all hungry, thirsty and tired. If we don't find a place to land soon, Appa is going to run out of energy! We can't keep doing this to him." Katara petted Appa's huge head. "Isn't that right my fluffy friend?"

"I know," Aang sighed, "but there is no way that we can land anywhere with this dense tree mass everywhere." He turned to Momo. "C'mon Momo. Let's go see if we can find a place for Appa to land."

"I suggest you hurry up because my stomach is starting to sound like Appa." Sokka retorted. Everyone laughed.

"I'll try." Aang promised. He spread his glider and flew off.

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"Man Momo, this forest is endless." Aang said. Momo chirped in agreement. Aang's cheeks were red from the sun and he was tired from hunger. "I bet," he said to Momo, "that Katara and Sokka wouldn't mind if I went down to look for food for us." And with that, Aang dove down into the trees.

After a few minutes of walking, Aang found a few berries that he knew were not poisonous. Taking a bunch, he fed first himself, then Momo, and then he just took a few that were left and put them in his bag for the others.

"That should do it!" Aang said with a smile across his face. After securing the rest of the berries, he prepared to fly back to the others. He opened his glider and flew up into the sky. The air had gotten cooler. A storm is approaching, he thought. In fact, Aang had noticed that a large storm cloud had moved into the area, casting a shadow over the forest.

He turned to Momo and told him to fly ahead to the others. Without further ado, Momo did as he was told. I hope that I can reach the others before the storm gets too bad, Aang thought to himself. But his hopes were in vain. Soon, wild winds whipped across Aang's face and the stinging rain hurt him like a million needles. But the worst thing was the lightning. It chased Aang through the sky, getting wilder and more unpredictable as time passed.

Each time that the lightning struck, it got closer and closer to Aang so that he had to dodge the lightning bolts as if he was fighting Azula herself.

Suddenly, lightning struck Aang. Not being able to control his flight because of the hole in his glider, Aang plummeted down into the trees. Before he fainted, however, he noticed a bird's eye view of three clearings in the shape of a triangle…


	2. Chapter 2: The voice in the Fire

Sokka, Katara and Appa had survived the storm pretty well. They had just spotted a place to land when Momo came and "told" Appa about the approaching storm.

"We have to take shelter!" Sokka yelled as a deafening crack of thunder split the air.

"Not without Aang!" Katara shouted back as a second roll of thunder passed.

"Don't be so stubborn Katara!" Sokka said to his sister after the sky quieted down a bit.

"No!" Katara insisted.

"What can happen to him? He's the Avatar." Sokka said calmly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just that I could never forgive myself if anything were to happen to him." Katara sighed. She hoped that Aang was okay. Look at yourself Katara, she scolded herself. Turning into a worrywart are we? Well, stop, she thought. She brought Appa down through the trees and she and Sokka set out to find food.

Appa, on the other hand, was well provided for. The trees were rich with juicy green leaves that were easily reached. There were also fruit bearing trees that fed Momo, though the fruits were high up. That's why Momo was the only one to see that it had started to rain. With the thick canopy overhead and the assortment of sounds from the wildlife at night, nobody else noticed the torrential rain fall down like a monsoon. But since flying lemurs can't talk, what could Momo do?

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Zuko was getting worse. His fever was up and he was beginning to slur his words. Toph really had to reach into herself to retrieve what little remainders of maternal instincts she possessed in order to take care of Zuko instead of pummeling him. But she managed somehow.

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It was night. The storm was still raging overhead as Aang began to regain consciousness. He felt a cool cloth on his forehead. He was lying on a bed of blankets. A fire was burning. He tried to sit up, but a splitting headache caused him to fall back down.

"I don't suggest you do that. It's not good for your health." A voice said. Aang couldn't see who it was.

"I… have to…" he mumbled.

"Shhh..." a warm, soft finger silenced his lips. "You can talk in the morning." It was a girl, his age, Aang realized. What was she doing here? She seemed to be alone.

"Who…" he stammered, but she would not let him speak.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. You must rest now. You will feel better in the morning. I promise." And just before Aang drifted off to sleep, she said "You can trust me. I know who you are. Don't worry…"

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Aang woke with a start and sat up quickly. He regretted that decision immediately. A wave of pain hit him that almost caused him to fall back down

"Ohhh…" he groaned and touched his head. It was bandaged. He looked around. He found himself in a small clearing surrounded by trees. A tent was set up. Red. With a fire nation symbol. Not good, he thought. A line was strung out between two metal poles. Clothesline?, he wondered. He found a bowl of berries and fruits beside him. He ate them greedily. The fire had died down. His clothes were folded neatly and were lying next to him. He looked at them. Mended! Whoever found him had well manicured skills. Not even Katara could… Katara! Sokka! Aang panicked. He had to find them! Aang jumped up and cringed. He realized that he wasn't fit to do anything in this condition. So he made up his mind to go explore his surroundings. For some reason, he had a vague memory of a triangle shaped group of clearings.

He got dressed and looked around. From where he stood, he could see that there were two paths through the trees, one left and one right. He chose to take the one on the right. He picked his way over the branches and leaves, being careful not to step on the small animals that skittered between his feet. He soon came to a second clearing. He saw that running through the middle of it was a small stream, too small to be useful for anything. But next to it was a low well. It was filled almost to the brim with clean, fresh water.

Aang quenched his thirst. The water was so sweet it made him sick. He looked around. There were two paths. One was the one that he had just come through that led back to the camp. The other was a path that probably led to the third clearing. Aang made his way over to the path when he heard a hissing sound behind him.

"Aaaaaa!" he yelled. It was a leopordog! It growled at Aang and pounced. The weight of the leopordog knocked him over. The next thing he knew, the animal was licking him in the face! Aang laughed. "Hey there buddy!" Aang said while trying to crawl out from under it.

Suddenly, there was a high pitched whistle. The leopordog stood rigid until it had faded. Then, he ran towards whatever was making the sound. Aang followed the magnificent beast. He saw the entrance to another clearing, but remained hidden in the trees.

He saw a pool in the middle of the clearing. In it was girl. She giggled. Aang, not wanting to disturb her bath, turned to leave. He accidentally stepped on a dried branch. The leopordog turned around, growling.

"Oh Miko! Quit being so paranoid. It's probably just a squirrelecoon or something." she said. Aang went back to the second clearing to look around some more. He was secretly hoping that the girl would come around this way and see him. He began to walk back to the main camp when suddenly he heard a voice behind him.

"Hi. Are you feeling better?" It was the same voice as the night before. Aang whirled around. Standing there was a girl his age, as he had predicted. Considering the fact that she lived alone in the woods, her outfit was pretty nice. She was wearing a cross jacket that hugged her body, red, with yellow stripes, and under that, a simple pair of red pants. She wore an open robe with a hood that covered the left side of her face and a red necklace with a strange symbol that Aang had never seen before engraved on it. To all of that, she wore a simple pair of red slippers. Her hair was cut short. She looked kind of like Aang when he had hair. The only difference was that she had skin the color of rich caramel. She had a young and innocent face. But what struck Aang the most was her eyes.

They were the color of tender brown bark on a new tree. Her eyes were staring at him in wonder and were the size of dinner plates. She looked just like a baby, but Aang could see that she had been through a lot.

I can't trust her, Aang thought as he remembered the Fire Nation symbol on her tent.

"I'm fine" he said slowly, not knowing whether or not to run or to play along. He decided that his best bet was to play along. If he tried to run away, she might firebend at him and set the whole forest on fire!

"Good!" she smiled kindly. "Then why don't we get back to camp and I'll tell you what happened."


	3. Chapter 3: The Discovery

The leaves on the trees shook. Apparently, in his fitful sleep without Aang, Appa had rolled onto a spike bush. Katara busied herself in taking them out while Sokka and Momo went to look for food, and maybe find the flower.

Actually, they had already found both. The food was really high up, though. Momo had flown to the top of the tree and was knocking down the fruits while Sokka tried to catch them. Occasionally, Appa's roar would shake the trees and knock down a few fruits. When that happened, Momo would catch them on his wings and glide down to Sokka, who would get them in his bag.

"Quit fooling around you two!" Katara called. "We have to go find that flower!"

"Katara is right. We should go." Sokka said, defeated. "C'mon Momo." Momo flew down to Sokka, and together, they went back to Katara. "Girls always have to spoil the fun, don't they?" Sokka muttered under his breath.

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Back at the camp, the mysterious girl started to explain to Aang what had happened.

"You got lucky." She said, nodding towards his head. "Not many survive a fall like that with only a minor head injury. You landed in a big-leaf bush after your glider was struck by lightning. That's when Miko found you." She petted the head of the beast as he rubbed up against her side.

"So… where is my glider now?" Aang asked, suspiciously.

"The fabric tore, so I fixed it up a bit. It's right over there, by that tree." She pointed to a large tree with gnarly branches. Aang turned. There it was. He walked over to it. She's making no move to stop me, he thought. He saw this as his chance to escape. He quickly grabbed his glider and flew away. She watched with sad eyes as the world's only hope and her only chance to escape soared up and away.

"He'll be back, I hope…." She said to Miko as the looked up to the clouds.

Aang flew through the sky, listening for Appa. Every so often, he blew his bison whistle. After a few minutes, he heard a familiar roar. He squinted against the sunlight. There they were! They were waving to him. He landed on Appa's back.

"What happened, Aang?" Katara asked when she saw that he had a bandage on his head.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I, uh, just got attacked by a, um, squirrelecoon, that's all. Nothing to worry about here." Aang grinned.

"Alright. Are you sure you're okay?" Katara asked one more time, just to be sure that there was nothing that she could do to help.

"I'm fine Katara! Quit worrying!" Aang snapped. "I'm just tired, that's all. Just tired…" Aang withdrew himself to a corner. Katara moved over next to him and put her arm around him.

"You don't seem to be okay. You're all… quiet-like." She said softly. "Is there anything that I can do to help?" she asked.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." He apologized. "It's just that… so much happened during the storm… so much that it makes me crazy." Katara was listening closely. "I was flying," he began "when the storm began. I was trying to find you guys when lightning hit my glider. I crashed, I think, and I passed out." Aang paused a moment while he gathered his memories. "I woke up once," he continued," and there was this girl. She took care of me and bandaged my head. I went back to sleep after that. When I woke up in the morning, there was food on the side of the blanket that I slept on. My clothes were mended, too." At this point, he showed Katara the stitches on his shirt. Katara nodded as Aang continued. "I met her and she seemed nice, but the tent she slept in was from the Fire Nation, so I didn't know if I could trust her or not. She told me where my glider was, and I flew away."

Katara was quiet.

"So," she started after thinking for a while, "how does this make you so insane? All that happened was that you met a Fire Nation girl that helped you a little. What's the big deal?" she looked at him confused.

"It's just that…" Aang started. "It's just that I feel really bad that I couldn't help her. I mean, she practically saved my life, and I just left her without as much as a thank you." He paused. "I think that she really needs help. But I don't know if she is trustable." Aang said.

"Needs help? Needs help?! The entire fire nation needs help! They're all a bunch of psycho maniacs!" Sokka chimed in.

Angrily, Katara turned to Sokka and asked "How do you know? She may be different!"

"Hey." Sokka replied coolly. "I'm just saying that we should be careful. I mean, how do you know that she isn't in cahoots with the Firelord or something?"

"Then she would have killed Aang by now, or Aang would be kidnapped or something like that." Katara replied in her end-of-conversation voice. Sokka retreated.

"So do we go help her?" Aang asked.

"Let's consider her situation first." Katara answered. "Was she alone?

"Yes."

"Did she seem to have enough food?"

"I guess so."

"You're sure she was alone?"

"All she had was a leopordog."

"A leopordog?"

"Yeah, really tame."

"Enough clothes, firewood, shelter?"

"Yes, yes and yes."

"So what is the problem?" Katara asked, not knowing why Aang wanted to help her so badly.

"She was our age." Quiet. Everyone was thinking. Aang broke the silence by saying "So, do we go help her?"

"I guess so." Sokka muttered, defeated.

"Well then I guess I'll show you the way." Aang said enthusiastically.

"Alright then, I guess that this matter is settled." Katara said. She turned to look at Sokka, who had retreated to a corner, and wondered what it was going to be like to meet this Fire Nation girl. She sighed. This was going to be interesting.

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"There it is!" Aang said loudly. "You can land in that clearing over there with the stream in it." He then said a bit more quietly. After they had landed, Aang went through the path that led to the main camp.

There she was, tending to the fire. Unnoticed, Aang went up to her. Only when he was standing right in front of her did she look up. Aang could see that she was crying before. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were blotchy and tear-stained.

"Hi…" Aang said quietly.

"I thought that you had left." she said, looking at the fire, never right at Aang. "Don't you miss your friends?"

"Yeah! This is why I brought them here!" Aang beamed.

She looked at him from the side. Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked to the floor and asked quietly, "Why would you come here? Don't you have to master the elements? Why would you come back here?" She covered her face and ran off into the trees.

Aang followed her with his gaze. Sokka and Katara came up to him.

"That went well. Can we get moving now?" Sokka asked impatiently.

"She's gone…" Aang said in a faraway voice. He ran after her into the trees.

Aang found her at the edge of the pool where he had first found her. He went up to her and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." she said resolutely.

"Then, why are you crying?" he asked as he saw a big, fat tear roll down her face.

"It's complicated. Not even the Avatar could understand it." She said and turned away.

"Try me." Said Aang, determined to find out what was wrong.

"It was long ago…" she started. "I had run away from home. I was found by this Earth Kingdom Circus. They took me in and promised to treat me well. But they didn't. I was ten years old then. I ran away with Miko, who had the same fate that I had, after a year had passed. And I lived here since then. That was two years ago. Now I'm thirteen." She paused to wipe a tear off of her face. "I only had one friend. But Azu… someone took her away. Those memories have never left me since." She sniffled. That was really hard on her.

"Wow. I'm sorry for your pain." Aang said. He thought for only a second when he said "How about this. You can come with us!"

"No Aang. I can't. I'll just eat your food, take up your space and breathe your air. No need for me." She sighed.

"Well there is no way that I'm letting you stay here by yourself. You'll die!" Aang said.

"I've survived for two years. I'll be fine. I have Miko here to protect me." She said and smiled a sad smile. "And anyway," she added under her breath, "If you knew who I really was, you'd never be able to help me."

"What?" Aang asked.

"Nothing, you've convinced me." she said quickly, hoping that he hadn't understood her last sentence.

"You can come with us if you swear by the spirits that you are not with the Firelord." Aang said sternly.

"I swear." The girl said.

"Oh yeah, and before I forget, what was your name again?" He looked at her.

"You can call me Nika." She smiled.

"Okay, then Nika." Aang smiled back.

They walked back to the clearing. During the entire conversation, Nika had not once showed the one side of her face. Sokka and Katara ran up to them.

"Okay, who are you and why do you have tons of stuff from the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked suspiciously. They had obviously been looking around.

Nika stepped up close to his face. She looked at him, deep in his eyes. Her hood still covered the left side of her face. Sokka was still taken by her beauty.

"I'm Nika. And who, may I ask, are you?" she answered and smiled.

"S…Sokka…" he stuttered. He quickly regained his composure and waved towards Katara. "And that's my sister Katara." he added dismissively. Nika backed off and walked over to Katara.

"Hi Katara. I'm Nika." Nika introduced herself.

"Hey Nika." She smiled warmly. Then she looked over Nika's shoulder and raised her eyebrows. "Sokka? What on earth are you doing?" Katara asked her brother. Sokka was googly eyeing at Nika and drooling. He quickly righted himself when Nika turned to see what was going on.

"Nothing." he said coolly. He picked up his sword. "Just looking at my sword." He pretended to thoroughly examine his weapon.

"Right." she said, and laughed as Sokka turned totally red from embarrassment.

"C'mon. Let's go." Aang said. "We'll be late." He chuckled as Sokka got on Appa and almost fell back onto the floor because he was paying more attention to Nika than where he was going.

Nika hugged Miko. "Be good." she said sternly. Miko barked a goodbye as Nika climbed onto Appa.

"Awwww!" Nika smiled and petted Momo's head. "You're so cute! Momo climbed on her head. Appa roared. Nika petted his head too. "You're cute too. And fuzzy! But I doubt that you'll fit through these trees." She turned to Aang. "How did you get here anyway?" she asked him.

Aang smiled a mischievous smile.

"I suggest that you hang onto your stuff. This is gonna be a bumpy ride!" he turned to Appa. "Yip yip!" and Appa flew to the sky.

"Oh my god!" Nika said. She was smiling. But slowly, her smile disappeared. "Oh my god…" she said, leaned over the edge of the saddle, and hurled.


	4. Chapter 4: Azula

The day went on uneventfully. The forest went on and on. As it started to get dark, Sokka began to look for a place to land and make camp.

"We need to find a place to stay for the night." He said. "Keep a lookout!"

"No need." Nika said she pointed to a small clearing. "We can land right there."

Aang looked over to where she was pointing. "I doubt that that is large enough to fit Appa."

"Trust me." She smiled "Thing's aren't always what they seem. Fly over there and you'll see what I mean. "

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the clearing. They gasped as they landed. There was a beautiful lake and a rocky cliff that shimmered in the setting sun. It was breathtaking. Katara gasped.

"This place is beautiful! It's perfect for some water bending training!" she beamed. "But we should really be getting back to the camp."

"I know but we have to stay somewhere for the night. And anyway, I have a better idea," Aang said "Why don't we have a little fun and swim! That cliff is a perfect jumping board!"

"I agree with Aang." Sokka said to the girls. "Let's go!" he began to undress. He was wearing a pair of blue swimming trunks. Aang did the same. He was wearing a pair of brown swimming trunks. Katara was sporting a lovely turquoise outfit. The only one that was making no move to change was Nika.

"C'mon! What are you waiting for?" Aang asked, ready to jump into the lake.

"You guys go ahead and have some fun." She said and waved her hand. "I don't feel like swimming. I'll just stay here with Appa." As if on cue, Appa walked over to the lake and plopped in. He was like an island on the water. "Or I could just do that." Nika smiled and petted him.

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It was nighttime. Sokka awoke at the sound of footsteps. He sat up as he saw a figure walk towards the lake. He followed the person. It was Nika. She sat down by the lake. He sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I just need some time to soak in everything that has happened. I mean, just two days ago, I was just Nika, an outcast, my existence unknown. But after that thunderstorm, my entire life changed. If Aang hadn't shown up, I would still be alone and sad. But then he introduced me to you guys and I knew that something was going to happen." She smiled at him. He was blushing.

"Yeah, well things like this always happen to us." He said they looked away from each other. There was an awkward silence. Sokka broke the ice.

"Say, why is it that you always cover one side of your face with your hood?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." She turned away from him. He turned her face to wards him and pulled back her hood. There was a tattoo. It was intricate. It was a whole bunch of vines and such and it ran down her face into her shirt.

"Wow. I never knew…" he said and looked at her face in awe.

"I trust you with this secret because I know that you won't look at me any differently than you did before." She looked at him. "This mark defines me. It destroys my soul but I couldn't imagine living without it. It's kind of like the arrow that Aang has on his forehead, only Aang isn't hurt by it."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked. A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. Sokka looked at her.

"At night, when I think about my past, it begins to glow and to burn like fire. The pain is indescribable." She paused. "And anyway, when people look at me, they don't look at my face. They only look at my mark."

"If people are really your friends then they learn to accept your mark and look past it. I look at you and I see… you! Not something that you have no need to be ashamed of." Sokka said reassuringly.

"Good thing that I have friends like you that don't care what I look like." She smiled at Sokka. Suddenly she stood up.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked.

"It's not fair that I can let you guys have all of the fun. I wanna swim too." she said.

She took off her robe. Sokka was dumbstruck. Since her top was short in the back, he was able to see her back. It was covered entirely with those tattoos. She turned around. The mark on her face ran all the way down to her bellybutton. Her hands and arms were marked, as were her legs and feet. She walked up to the cliff and jumped in a perfect arc.

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The next morning, Nika was the first one awake. She gathered food for everyone and placed it next to their tents, much in the same way that she had done it with Aang on the first morning that they had met.

Everyone woke and found their food. They ate it quickly and got ready for the day. After about an hour, they were ready to go. Nika was already on Appa when she realized that she'd much rather be walking. But it was too late. They had already sailed into the air.

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After a few hours of traveling, the forest had ended, much to the relief of Aang.

"Finally!" he sighed. He looked over to the west. "Hey, what's that?" he asked. He was pointing to a small town that seemed to be deserted. "I'll go down and check it out." Aang said. He flew down on his glider and landed in the middle of the square. The town was completely deserted. He looked around. All of the houses were burned down. Azula, he thought aloud. He saw he arrows that gave Mai away on one of the trees.

"Very good Avatar." Aang knew that voice. "I guess Mai gave me away. I was actually hoping to surprise you. But since that option is out…" Azula shrugged as Tai Li came up behind Aang and blocked his Chi.

"Tie him up." Azula ordered Tai Li. Said and done. Azula walked up to Aang and grasped his chin, forcing him to look at her.

"I would kill you if you didn't have something that I wanted." she said quietly in her evil voice. She walked over to a house and hid inside the old shell.

After what seemed like an eternity, Appa and the gang landed in the square. Katara ran up to Aang and untied him.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Get out!" Aang said to her. "It's a trap! Azula's here!" By now, Nika had run over to them and had heard that Azula was hiding in the house.

"Aang's right. You guys have to get out of here. It's too dangerous." she said.

"But what about you?" Sokka asked.

"Don't worry about me Sokka. Just get out of here and get to safety." Nika said to him. Aang grabbed her arm. She pushed him off. "No Aang. Let go." She said to him.

"But how are you going to win against her? You have no way of defending yourself!" Aang pleaded with her.

"I have some tricks up my sleeve." She said as Azula stepped out of the shadows.


	5. Chapter 5: The Secret Revealed

Aang turned to the others and told them to get out. They quickly flew away.

"This may take a while." he said.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Nika snarled. "I thought that you were gone forever." She turned to Aang. "I can handle this one alone, Aang."

"No way am I letting you face her alone" he said to her. "You'll get yourself killed."

"Suit yourself. I just don't want you getting hurt." Nika shrugged. At that moment, Tai Li came up from behind Aang and once again paralyzed him and tied him up.

"Awwww, too bad. Now you have no Avatar to protect you." Azula said, almost happily.

"What do you want Azula?" Nika said to her in a rock hard voice.

"I think that you know what I want." She smiled. "Don't you remember what you were like in the past?"

"Shut up Azula." Nika said quietly

"Back then, you were the best, and so young, too. It was amazing." Azula said.

"Shut up Azula." Nika said again, this time louder.

"Oh being threatening are we, Nikikola?" Azula snarled.

"It's Nika, just in case you cared." Nika responded

"Too bad. I don't." Azula turned to Aang and shot a fireball at him. He, in turn, inhaled deeply and extinguished the shot with a strong wind.

"Stop Azula. What do you want with him?"

"Such a stupid question for such a smart girl. What do you think I want with your boyfriend?" Nika turned red as Azula said that.

"Leave him alone…" Nika looked to the floor for a split second and then righted her head so as not to show what she felt.

"What are you going to do? How are you going to stop me? You're not. You are too weak. You couldn't stop me even if you tried. Well, maybe you could, but the one thing that you would have to do you're too weak to do. It's a pity really."

"Stop it Azula. I'm warning you" Nika said.

"Stop it or what?" Azula asked, obviously bored and unafraid.

"Stop it or I'll… I'll…" she stopped to think what she could possibly do.

"Exactly what it thought. You can't do anything. You're too much like your brother. Weak and useless." Azula smiled. She had hit her mark.

"I am not weak!" Nika said quietly. "I chose not to and nothing can make me change that decision. Ever." She said resolutely.

"I know what can. Tai Li, bring them out." Azula waved her arm and Tai Li came out with Sokka and Katara. They were paralyzed. Azula walked over to them. A small flame appeared on the tip of her finger. She put her hand dangerously close to Katara's face.

"No…" Nika whispered. She charged at Azula and tried to punch her. But it was blocked. Every time that Nika tried to throw a punch, it was blocked. Kicks, blocked. Nothing worked. Soon, Nika was out of breath.

"Look at you." Azula frowned. "So pathetic. It's embarrassing to be related to you. It pains me to call you my sister, let alone the rightful heir to the Fire Nation throne."

Nika bowed her head in shame. Then she looked up.

"When I ran away from the palace, I swore that I would never firebend again. And there's nothing that you can do to make me change my mind."

"Watch me." Azula said and smiled an evil smile.


	6. Chapter 6: Rise of the Firebender

Aang watched this scene in total silence. His conscience was gnawing at him. He was furious at himself for not realizing that this was the Fire Nation princess, the famous Nikikola who disappeared three years ago and was never heard from again, just as she was to be announced as the rightful heir to the throne. He had always wondered what had happened to her. But he had somehow imagined her as a snotty-nosed brat that had anger issues and that wouldn't have survived a day alone in he woods. But then again, her brother Zuko managed to provide enough for himself and Iroh.

Tai Li was standing next to him. To Aang's surprise, she started to talk to him.

"You know," she started, "I actually met her once. I just didn't know that she was… well… who she was. I met her when we did an act with the Earth Kingdom Circus. She was so sad about what happened to her. I was backstage when her show started. It was sad. They knew that she was from the Fire Nation and they treated her that way. They obviously didn't like that Fire Nation. They beat her and treated her worse than we would treat a stray dog. She was always hungry and was happy that I came and visited her in her little room. I think that I was her only friend." She stared into space, as if she was gathering her memories.

Aang was staring at Nika. He had no idea that she had been through so much. All that he remembered was her telling her that her life wasn't a piece of cake and that she was happier with her life in the woods than her life before.

He thought. So much had changed since that storm. It had all just started as a regular day, flying through the woods. But now look at what had happened! It was insane. Aang looked up. He had to do something, quickly, because he had just heard her say that she would never firebend again.

Suddenly, something touched his hand and he smiled.

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"What are you going to do?" Nika asked.

"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're asking." They began to walk in a circular motion. The whole time that they were walking, Nika was eyeing Azula suspiciously. "But I do have a plan. First I'll fight you, and, since you've obviously given up fire bending, defeat you. Then, I'll have the Avatar and the famed Fire Nation princess and return home as a hero. How does that sound?" Azula smiled wickedly.

"Splendid." Nika said under her breath.

"What was that?" Azula asked. "I thought that I heard you say splendid! But I bet that it wouldn't be so splendid if, say," she looked at Sokka, "something were to happen to this little companion of yours…" she shot a bolt of lightning at him. Right at that moment, Aang jumped in front of the post that the siblings were tied to and bent a wall of earth in between them and the bolt. It was like a miracle.

"No Aang! Get out!" Nika yelled distraughtly.

"No Nika, I can't let you face her alone!

"I said, get OUT!" At that last word, she shot a blade of fire at the group. Seeing the fire in her eyes and realizing that she was serious about fighting Azula alone, he and the others ran to Appa, and with a final yip yip, they flew off.

"Still being the hero are we?" Azula asked. "Didn't mother ever teach you not to be so difficult?"

"That's none of your business." Nika said.

"Oh, I think it is" Azula said and shot a bolt of lightning at her. And the fight was on.

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Sokka, Aang, Katara and Momo were watching the spectacle from a bird's eye view.

"Wow" was all that Sokka could say.

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The sisters were battling viciously.

"I guess you didn't forget everything." Azula said angrily. It looked like it was going to be a challenge for her after all.

"I guess so." Nika said and shot a fireball at Azula. She, in turn, countered it with a lightning bolt.

"Have you forgotten how to fight with fire, instead of letting the lightning do the work for you?" Nika taunted.

"At least the lightning is pure, unlike you! You're a disgrace to the royal family!" Azula spat back, along with a lightning X.

"And I'm proud to be just that!" Nika had dodged the lightning X by doing a split. She righted herself and countered the attack with three blades of fire using her foot. Azula flipped over them and shot a lightning bolt over to Nika, aimed directly at her head. Nika did a back flip, and attempted to protect herself with a wave of fire.

Both of them were pretty out of breath when dusk arrived. But this battle was far from over. This wasn't just a sisterly spat, but a fight that came down to it all. It was as if Nika was fighting against everything that she had tried so desperately to forget. The fight was vicious, their strength evenly matched. Nika was at the end of her rope. It was as if Azula knew her every move and already had an attack to counter it.

Azula was fighting as if her life depended on it, or even worse, her honor. Nika had just finished a rolling ball of fire when Azula shot a bolt of lightning at her as she was coming in for the landing. The shock of being hit with it left Nika on the floor, unable to move. She was breathing heavily. Azula walked up to her and smiled. She had just defeated the famed Nikikola of the Fire Nation, the one that was born with the ability to wipe out the entire Fire Nation of she chose to.

Nika stirred. "I'm not defeated yet." She said quietly.

"You never give up, do you?" Azula asked skeptically.

"Do you?" Nika asked and stood tall. She folded her hand so that her thumb, second and middle finger were upright and pressed together and put them against her chest. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. She looked up. There was fire burning in her eyes. She extended her arms and began to spin. A ball of fire enveloped her. Suddenly, the ball exploded and it expanded to all sides! Wave after wave of fire came rushing towards Azula and there was no way that she could defend herself. After three waves, she hopped onto her horse bird and rode off.

Nika watched Azula ride off into the distance. After she was just a tiny speck in the horizon, Nika fell onto her knees and wept.


	7. Chapter 7: Reunion

It was night already. Azula and Nika were so enveloped in their fight that they didn't notice Appa and the others landing behind a burnt out shell of an old house. As soon as Nika broke down, they came running into the clearing.

"That was awesome!" Aang exclaimed. "You were all like PYEW and then like POW POW POW and then like-'' He stopped. They had all gathered around Nika, who was quivering with sobs.

"Whoa. I think that we need to give her some space." Sokka said, obviously concerned. They all walked to Appa. That is, all except Sokka. He knelt down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. He was just about to ask her what was wrong when she began to talk.

"I… just…" she put her head on his shoulder and let the tears flow freely.

"It's okay because it's over now. I promise that you'll never have to do that again." He wiped the tears off of her face and helped her get up. They walked to Appa. Sokka and Aang helped her get on.

After flying for a while, Nika withdrew to a corner, away from all the others. Sokka moved in next to her.

"Why did you run away?" Sokka asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It was like this." Nika started. "I was born during the 87th year of the war. But before I was born, my mother saw the spirit of fire in her dreams. She never told me what it meant, but all I know is that I was always better than the teacher was in all of my fire bending classes. Even though I was younger than my sister and my brother, I was still more powerful. Therefore, I was secured the throne." she said.

"But I still don't get why you ran away" Sokka said.

"Well," Nika continued, "since I was still young, my father tried to influence me to think that this war was necessary. He would take me to places where everyone was smiling and happy. They praised the war and listed all the benefits that it had. But I had this friend that would secretly take me to places that were burned down, where people were starved and dirty and where there was no hope. I ran way because I thought I could help them. But I couldn't show my face anywhere without being recognized from all of the wanted posters. Soldiers were everywhere, and they were looking for me. I never went back because I knew that if I did, as punishment for my actions, I would be denied the right to the throne, and I would never be able to fix what my family has caused."

"But you can't just sit here and do nothing!" Sokka retorted.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to solve all of this." She smiled. "Maybe now that you are here, you can help me! I mean, think about it. I can teach Aang fire bending and if I do manage to gain power, I can end this war, for good." She eyed Sokka hopefully. He was thinking about it.

"Alright. We'll help you." He smiled at her. She smiled back.

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They only had to fly for a few more minutes to reach the camp. Zuko was inside a tent, barely conscious, so Nika didn't see him. Not wanting to be nosy, she quietly began to set up her tent. It was late, but Katara still insisted on making the roots into a tea. Nika watched as she took the tea into the tent. Nika said goodnight to everyone and retreated into her own tent.

The next morning, as always, Nika was the first one awake. Gradually, everyone else emerged. Zuko was the last. He stepped out of his tent feeling better than ever.

"Good morning everyo…" he stopped short when he saw Nika. She turned around.

"You…" she whispered. She ran up to him and hugged him so tightly. Tears of joy ran down her face as she smiled and looked up at him. "I missed you." Zuko stroked her head.

"I missed you too." he said and hugged her back. And for the first time in her life, Katara swore she saw Zuko smile.


End file.
